Gal. 5:6 : “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
We’ve all heard the adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Unfortunately, some of you grew up in, or may now be in, a church where your worth and spiritual condition were measured by outside appearances according to rules established by men. Relatively little attention is given to the inside—the heart or character. The inside is judged based upon outside perceptions.
While rules matter in life, they are not the main thing. The only thing that counts, according to Scripture, is faith expressing itself through love. That doesn’t sound like rule-keeping is the main thing, does it? One of the problems with rules being the main thing is that they obstruct relationship building, especially between generations.
The faith Paul writes about in Galatians 5:6 is not some burdensome, or even feel-good, rule-bound system of belief we call “religion.” Religion is of man’s making—an attempt to find God through human effort. The Gospel is about God finding man to draw him back to Himself. This is the ‘faith’ Paul speaks about. It is a compelling to make much of Christ, which is much different than ‘religion’ that makes much of man.
Jill Briscoe, speaking at the CASA Network International Leadership Conference a few days ago in Dallas, read a note from a young woman with whom she had been meeting regularly—a woman with a lot of issues and questions about God. “Because you listened to me,” she wrote, “I knew that you loved me; and because I knew you loved me, I wanted to listen to you.”
So, how would the impact we have with other generations be affected if our focus was on what is on the inside rather than the outside? If the main thing were the Gospel and Christ in us, would it turn our relationships and our impact in those relationships upside-down? The upside of the inside reality of Christ as the primary thing is that we are much more likely to listen and love. Then those who know they are loved will be much more likely to listen too.
Join the Conversation: Have you seen this principle at work in your own experience? What is the downside of making religious rules, restrictions, and rationalizations primary? Why do we tend to do that?
Loved the article. Very informative.